India under threat of militant group, says UAE

Abu Dhabi: Warning that India is not immune to the threat from militant group, the UAE, which has deported about a dozen Indians with suspected links to the terror group, said today that its anti-terror cooperation with India is going to get 'more institutionalised'.

"There are no grey areas. We need to tackle this threat and nobody is immune. If you think you are immune (and) you are going to be negligent, you are going to be hit. Everybody.... whether India or the UAE," Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said here.

Ahead of the UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's three day State Visit to India starting Wednesday, Gargash told a private media channel in an interview that strengthening bilateral cooperation against terrorism would be an important component of the royal visit.

Bilateral cooperation on terror was 'working very well' and in the coming 12 months 'it will be more institutionalised and work even better', he said in the backdrop of the Gulf nation having deported to India a dozen Indians with suspected links to ISIS in recent months.

Such cooperation was an important part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discussions with the UAE leadership during his visit here in August, Gargash said.

Underlining the threat posed by militant group, the minister said, "no country was immune, no city is immune..... We need greater cooperation and zero tolerance for any sort of extremism, terrorism in order to confront this threat”.